This article is about how a high school biology teacher, Harry Weekes, finds drawing to be an invaluable tool in his classes. He requires his students to keep a sketchbook and requires students to sketch everything from prepared slides of mitosis and plant anatomy to field sightings of birds and protists. His primary goal in integrating art into science is honing observation skills. Sketching requires students to spend more time with the material and ultimately generates a better understanding of and interest in biology. Student drawings, sketches, observations, recordings, and general musings are a wonderful insight into both how and what they see. And because he has his students draw and write from the beginning of the year until the end, their sketchbooks become a journal of their year.
Harry stated that "A good observer is someone who looks at an object, whether inanimate or animate, and then articulates what he or she sees in succinct and accurate representations of that object. These representations might be verbal, written, drawn, or a combination of all three." He also feels that drawing improves observation skills and helps students see more clearly and therefore ask better questions and formulate better hypotheses.
Harry also described how students lead frenetic lives and he want to provide a way for them to listen, to look and to stare. It is in sitting and watching that students really start to notice characteristics of morphology and behavior. In the end, the time spent observing and drawing creates a better understanding of biology and fosters the natural inquisitiveness and curiosity that are the cornerstones of good hypotheses and good science.
These drawings are assessed by first being standardized. The drawings must be done in pencil, and each entry must include the student’s name, date, location, assignment, and the weather (if applicable). Then, he requires that each page includes a combination of written and drawn observations, and for each assignment to fill one page of the sketchbook. He then further assess students’ work through the combination of their written and drawn observations, and how much attention they have paid to the details of their object(s) or the specifics of their assignment. This way, there is a more level playing field for the "artists" of the class as well as the "journalists".
Reaction:
I feel as if I am definitely going to use drawing in my classroom. I am always looking for ways in which to keep the classroom interesting and to break up lecture time, and I feel as if this is something that would do the job. Many students enjoy drawing and feel as if they are not doing as much work as if taking "boring" notes. By paying close attention to drawing detail, they are also learning material without realizing it. Drawing is also another way to reach more students with different modalities, and requiring students to write on the sketchpad too, includes even more modalities!
Also, as Harry said, "Drawing and sketching are a wonderful means of getting students to slow down and accurately observe what they see. Because it is virtually impossible to fake a good drawing (and therefore good observations), I find sketchbooks a valuable method of assessing how much time and effort students dedicate to what we are doing as well as how well they observe."
Article: Drawing Students Out
Weekes, H (2005).Drawing Students Out. The Science Teacher. January, 34-37.
Link to Article
Summary:
This article is about how a high school biology teacher, Harry Weekes, finds drawing to be an invaluable tool in his classes. He requires his students to keep a sketchbook and requires students to sketch everything from prepared slides of mitosis and plant anatomy to field sightings of birds and protists. His primary goal in integrating art into science is honing observation skills. Sketching requires students to spend more time with the material and ultimately generates a better understanding of and interest in biology. Student drawings, sketches, observations, recordings, and general musings are a wonderful insight into both how and what they see. And because he has his students draw and write from the beginning of the year until the end, their sketchbooks become a journal of their year.
Harry stated that "A good observer is someone who looks at an object, whether inanimate or animate, and then articulates what he or she sees in succinct and accurate representations of that object. These representations might be verbal, written, drawn, or a combination of all three." He also feels that drawing improves observation skills and helps students see more clearly and therefore ask better questions and formulate better hypotheses.
Harry also described how students lead frenetic lives and he want to provide a way for them to listen, to look and to stare. It is in sitting and watching that students really start to notice characteristics of morphology and behavior. In the end, the time spent observing and drawing creates a better understanding of biology and fosters the natural inquisitiveness and curiosity that are the cornerstones of good hypotheses and good science.
These drawings are assessed by first being standardized. The drawings must be done in pencil, and each entry must include the student’s name, date, location, assignment, and the weather (if applicable). Then, he requires that each page includes a combination of written and drawn observations, and for each assignment to fill one page of the sketchbook. He then further assess students’ work through the combination of their written and drawn observations, and how much attention they have paid to the details of their object(s) or the specifics of their assignment. This way, there is a more level playing field for the "artists" of the class as well as the "journalists".
Reaction:
I feel as if I am definitely going to use drawing in my classroom. I am always looking for ways in which to keep the classroom interesting and to break up lecture time, and I feel as if this is something that would do the job. Many students enjoy drawing and feel as if they are not doing as much work as if taking "boring" notes. By paying close attention to drawing detail, they are also learning material without realizing it. Drawing is also another way to reach more students with different modalities, and requiring students to write on the sketchpad too, includes even more modalities!
Also, as Harry said, "Drawing and sketching are a wonderful means of getting students to slow down and accurately observe what they see. Because it is virtually impossible to fake a good drawing (and therefore good observations), I find sketchbooks a valuable method of assessing how much time and effort students dedicate to what we are doing as well as how well they observe."